Sound and/or image producing devices such as cassette players, compact disc players, hand-held video games, etc., are popular entertainment devices. They make use of cassette tapes, compact discs or game cards that store information such as music and game commands. The cassette or compact disc player or hand-held video game receives the information stored on the tape, disc or card, and processes that information to produce sound and/or visual image's.
The invented sound and image producing system is an alternative to existing cassette players, compact disc players and other such items in that it allows a user to conveniently produce sound, such as music, and/or visual images. The system includes a cartridge that stores, processes and controls data representative of sound and/or images, and a player that provides the interface, annunciation and transduction of sound and/or images. The cartridge includes a computer integrated circuit or chip that stores and transmits signals from which sound and/or images may be produced. For example, the cartridge includes memory, data stored in the memory, a processing system, programming executable by the processing system, and at least one connector to releasably connect the cartridge to the player. The cartridge may include a single chip or integrated circuit, with the memory, processing and other functions all performed by the chip, such as an EMC 2200 chip or a PowerSpeech 2500 Series chip from Winbond Electronics Corporation of Taiwan. The chip may be mounted on a printed circuit board with a timing resistor, if necessary, and the connector or connectors may be associated with the printed circuit board.
The player, in contrast, is a bridge configured to receive and connect to the cartridge, to receive electrical signals from the cartridge, and to produce sound vibrations and/or visual images from the signals. The player includes a transducer to produce the sound vibrations, a battery or other power supply, and controls to trigger the cartridge to produce and transmit electrical signals representative of sound. The player may include an output, such as a liquid crystal diode, to display images. The player includes only those components necessary to produce sound vibrations and/or images from the signals received from a cartridge, a battery, and associated input or output components. The player need not include any processor, memory or other similar items because those items are resident on the cartridge. Expressed differently, the player includes only electrical components such as switches, a speaker, an LCD and a battery, while the cartridge includes electronic components such as a computer or micro-processor, an analog-to-digital converter and memory.
The cartridge typically has a side-to-side dimension of no more than 2 inches, and often less than 1 inch, because the cartridge is essentially a single chip. The player typically has a side-to-side dimension of no more than 3 inches, and often only slightly greater than a cartridge. This small size allows the system to be worn as a necklace or bracelet, be attached to clothing, bags or packs (such as by a clip or as a fob or zipper pull), or take the form of a toy or figurine.
One use of the sound producing system is to play popular music easily and inexpensively. Users may purchase and collect the cartridges, plug them into a player, and then listen to music. Users may also trade cartridges amongst themselves. The system is small, so it is easily carried. For example, high school students may clip players to a zipper on their backpacks.